Chapter 95

Chapter Ninety-Five

Coated in wet bug guts, reeking like something that had crawled from a sewer, Connor could only stare at Martienne’s torn corpse. She’d been staring at the sky, as if she might be dreaming of escaping the horrible planet with her ship.

It wouldn’t happen, though. He’d failed the team, and she’d paid the cost.

He spat out a mouthful of bug goo, which quickly sank into the thirsty moss.

The ringing in his head subsided. That was the work of his helmet, which had spread the impact of the blast as widely as possible. When he heard muted chatter among the team, it really was soft rather than his ears failing him.

Vicente backpedaled from where he and Elise had been watching the tree line. “Boss?”

Connor mechanically went through the routine of checking Martienne’s weapon: still functional, ammunition still in the magazine. “Yeah?”

“Good call. On that explosive, I mean.”

Lem helped Tom up. “The flank would have been overrun.”